Misuse of state resources, unregulated campaign finance still persists – EU EOM

General news for Thursday, December 10, 2020

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

2020-12-10

The European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) has observed that misuse of state resources and unregulated campaign finance still persists in Ghana’s electoral process.

Ghanaians went to the polls on December 7, 2020, for the eighth time since 1992 to elect a president and 275 members of Parliament as part of a four-year constitutional term.

According to Chief Observer Javier Nart, although the election was conducted in a peaceful and organized manner, his preliminary findings identified the above.

Addressing journalists at a press conference in Accra on Wednesday, November 10, 2020, Javier Nart said that the vast majority of EU EOM observers positively assessed the voting process and the electoral environment.

“Ghanaians voted freely, and although there were isolated violent incidents on election day and during the campaign, fortunately fears of violence and vigilantism did not materialize,” said Javier Nart.

“However, the unregulated campaign finance, the supposedly common practice of vote buying, and the widespread misuse of state resources for electoral purposes did not contribute to creating a level playing field among the contestants. It would be beneficial for future elections in Ghana if these issues were addressed, ”he emphasized.

The EU Chief Observer added that the electoral contest was quite unique and had 12 candidates, a president and a former president.

“For the first time, we had a woman running for the vice presidency. However, our mission has also noted that women are significantly underrepresented in Ghanaian politics, and this issue must be addressed as a priority, ”she stated.

On Election Day, the EU EOM deployed some 80 observers across the country to monitor the electoral process. The mission arrived in Ghana on October 31 and will remain to observe post-election events.

The Chief Observer emphasized that the electoral process was not yet complete and that the conclusions of the EU EOM were preliminary.